Jeremiah 51 God is in Control

The song "God is in Control" by Amy Grant is a long-time favorite of mine and I think it illustrates this chapter of the Bible very well.

This chapter continues the judgment pronounced on Babylon. The city Babylon was a great city with walls that seemed invincible. The city was covered six square miles and spanned the Euphrates River. It was surrounded by high double walls. In the time of Jeremiah it was a very beautiful proud city. Nebuchadnezzar had beautified it in many ways. It was also a center of paganism and idolatry. It probably seemed very foolish to prophesy its downfall. Yet, years later, the Medes and the Persians captured the city. They did so by diverting the river and sneaking in through the dry riverbed at night. They then killed the gatekeepers and flung open the gates for their entire army to enter the city. In this was the mighty Babylon was defeated. The city did not immediately become deserted. It was the capital of the Persian empire until it was taken over by Alexander the Great, who planned to make it his capital. However, his successor decided to make a different city his capital and it eventually lost its significance. Today it is 30 miles from Bagdad and is nothing more than an archeological site.

God has spoken many prophecies and promises through his people. Many of them seem unlikely if not impossible. But, God is all-knowing and all-powerful. So, if He says something, it will happen. We must trust God completely, knowing that He wants the best for us. What an amazing God we serve!

Jeremiah 50 God Punishes Babylon

Jeremiah has been declaring judgment on all the surrounding nations, but now he turns to Babylon, the great empire that conquered all these other nations. He tells the Chaldeans that they too will be destroyed. A country will come from the North and take them off the map. Their land would become a barren wilderness. No one will live there forever. The reason? They had touched God's people. Even though their capture of Judea was a just reward for their sins, God still cared about His people and punished Babylon for taking them captive.

God still cares about us that much. As we live for Him, we are His people and he protects us too. He may choose to allow circumstances that we do not enjoy, but He always has our good in mind. He may chasten us when we do wrong, but it is for our good. So, remember that whatever you may be facing right now. God is still looking out for you.